Tuesday the 19th marked the start of Aquarius season. A late January baby, I’ve lived my whole life reading Aquarius horoscopes, matching my personality traits to the standard Aquarius traits. This year, as part of my plan to combat pandemic boredom, I learned how to read astrological natal charts and became more familiar with my sun, rising, and moon signs.
As an Aquarius, I’ve always been interested in human rights, social justice, and philosophical ideas. It fits with the stereotypes about Aquarius – we are said to have strong social consciences and tend to be deeply philanthropic and humanitarian. Our mantra is “I Know” and many claim we are the smartest of the Zodiac signs. We are also deeply introverted and so thoughtful that it is often counterproductive (read: we overthink everything). Although we love humans and humanity, we aren’t always the best in social situations.
My favorite way to spend my time is in isolation, writing or reading. It’s a distinct Aquarius trait, which is why we tend to make good writers (see: Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, Amy Tan, and many others). My second book, Summer of the Cicadas, was called a “cli fi” novel (climate fiction) novel, which is something I had never heard of before. “It’s really about the environment,” one interviewer told me, “and environmental justice.”
That was news to me. Most of my pieces revolve around some sort of social justice. Usually, there are several themes squished into one piece. Cicadas was about the environment, yes, but it was also about addiction and recovery, homophobia, and conservativism. It was a deeply personal piece, driven mostly by the emotional storylines. While I think physical plot is very important, I’m much more concerned with the heart of a piece. What do the characters learn? How do they change? What is the emotional thread/theme?
Aquarius has a bad reputation for being emotionless, but we’re definitely not. We just hide our feelings well. I am probably one of the most emotional people I know. My Pisces moon makes me doubly so. (Pisces, a water sign, is known for experiencing deep emotions.) I used to hate this side of myself. I hated when people called me “sensitive” or told me I was creating drama over whatever social justice issue I was speaking on. But my writing has helped me see both my Aquarius sun and my Pisces moon in a different light. Both have made me uniquely able to feel and confer that feeling to others via my writing. I wouldn’t give that up for anything.
For some, astrology is just for fun. But for me, it’s a way of looking at myself differently, examining my strengths and weaknesses and appreciating what skills the universe has conferred to me.
